I Saw A Total Eclipse And Have Feelings

Now that some time has passed, I thought I'd share my thoughts about the Great American Eclipse.

[honkinggoose]

- sunset pink on every horizon
- vanilla sky above that
- still getting darker looking up - hey Venus!
- OMG FIRE HOLE IN THE SKY!!!

[s.henrlllpoklookout]

"I immediately became one of those people!"
Same here, my dude

[lindatitus]

I'm 65 years old, so figuring I probably won't have another opportunity to view a total eclipse, I traveled with my two sons and my daughter-in-law from western Maryland to a small town just south of Cleveland. We sat in the bleachers of the town's high school baseball field (along with most of the people from town) and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. And by the way, temperature dropped, the wind did pick up, and yes, the crickets chirped! Love your channels!

[Nefville]

I saw it from the middle of nowhere Indiana with clear skies in the path of totality for 4 minutes and 3 seconds. It was magnificent!!! I saw the one in 2017 so I knew what to expect and I was *counting down the days, * let me tell you, for 7 YEARS. I got stuck in traffic for an hour going there and 3 hours coming back but I would do it again RIGHT NOW. The funny thing is, if you haven't seen a total solar eclipse then you just cannot possibly understand how magnificent it is and I can't explain it. I am still very much on an eclipse high. Honestly a big part of the feelings I had was _relief._ Relief that I got the day off, relief that I made it in time and that the skies were clear. I looked into the eye of the universe and we were one. It all worked out. *Magnificent!*

[jcortese]

4:02 -- I just wanted to let you know that this moment of camera fiddling followed by HOLY SH*T OH MY GOD was one of the most wonderful moments I've seen on your channel.

[TribalGuitars]

I saw an interview with a scientist who said "Watch your first eclipse. Photograph your second, " because people are often so focused on their cameras and fiddling with settings they miss the whole thing.

It definitely dropped about 20 degrees here. We already had a breeze. While the birds stopped chirping all the dog did was take a nap. Oh, and my wife was so into the moment that she felt faint and leaned on me. It was a nice moment of closeness. Our daughter is autistic (high functioning) so it was a very anxious time for her leading up to it, as autistic people can catastrophize things. So, to her, the things most people laugh about were worries, but once it happened she was so captured by it all that anxiety went away and was replaced by awe and excitement and she was looking up when the next one as soon as we got back inside.

Thanks for sharing, Joe!

[carpemkarzi]

Way back in the 70’s I got to see a total and my friend and I were on a hill so we could watch the shadow rushing toward us and then the light returning. The colour was what surprised me the most. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever got to see.

[yanceynitzsche]

My happiest memory was getting to introduce my parents to the entire concept of eclipses. They are both very "salt o' the earth" folks from rural southern 'Merica who have never given a second thought to what's going on in the sky except how and when it affects their trucking travel safety. In fact, my mom's education and life's journey has been so far removed from astronomy that she didn't really even understand what those lights and glowing orbs above her head are, so it was the greatest joy to gently guide her/them through the process, and then watch their brains 'splode when the moment arrived. We talked about it for two days afterward, and now they have the same thought you do; "this can NOT be the last one we see!". Glorious.

[tomblue]

Hey, Joe. squinty face, slack jawed old Canadian guy here, long time follower, first time commenting.
I've been an eclipse D-bag since I saw a total eclipse in southern Saskatchewan in 1979, and I will continue to be one going forward.
I've seen a couple partials since then, pretty damn cool, but stlll .. well, you know.
Welcome to the club.

[jppagetoo]

It's no shame being "that guy" after seeing a total eclipse. It is that cool. It is that much different from a near total. I saw it this time in Toledo OH. It was amazing, and very much worth making the few hour drive to where it was in totality. I took my elderly parents with me and they loved it too.

[peppermintmoon]

My first total eclipse. I saw a partial on a cruise in '95 and the partial in '17. My mom, who's 89, my brother and I drove to a small park in the middle of nowhere PA to watch it. There were five or six families with kids there. The reaction of the kids was what made it for me. It thought about getting out my dslr camera, but in the end, I kept hearing people say they wish they'd watched it with no distractions. I'm glad I did. I took one quick, overexposed shot with my phone, but that was it.
I'll be 82 the next one rolls around, and yeah, I was one of those ones who wants to see another one before then.

[genevieveanglin]

I saw the one in 2017 in Nashville partially obscured by clouds, but it was incredible. I watched this one from a friends farm in Ohio, and I am still coming down from the high. It was amazing, spectacular, awe inspiring, blah, blah, blah. Started planning to see another while it was still happening. But, for me, the best part was being at an eclipse party in rural Ohio, bunch of farmers, not the worlds most effusive bunch, but for the next hour, about ever 30 seconds or so you would hear something very close to, "I mean, I guess I knew it would be interesting, but I just had no idea." Brought a lot of people together in very unexpected ways.

[flyingeagle]

I saw both this one and the one in 2017.
Can confirm the difference between 99.5% and 100% is gigantic. Also, the amazing thing is that no camera ever captures this the way the human eye does. Even the very best attempts to see the corona fail to reproduce it.
I can also confirm that each eclipse is unique, the one in 2017 appeared much more like "spikes" of light coming off the sun/moon, while this one was much more curved, and everyone where I was noticed a red spot on the bottom of the moon(probably one of the solar prominances/Flares

[ShaunWGibson]

I saw a total eclipse in Spain in... 2000 and... I want to say 5. And for the first time I understood the primeval mythologies and terror associated with them. It was the lack of heat that really struck me.

[naciremasti]

Fortunate enough to see the 2017 eclipse and it's definitely something that every human should experience. Altho it can be vividly described, unless you've actually been thru it you'll never truly understand.

[andiwaters]

I cried. It was amazing and weirdly profound.

[WhiskyCanuck]

I saw it standing on the front lawn at work (yay for being on the totality path & not having to travel anywhere) with about 20-30 other people. Afterward I heard someone say "Well, I guess that's how religions start".

I guess the temperature thing will depend on the local weather. I'm in Canada in spring so there are pretty big temperature swings daily from day to night. I was a big noticeable temperature swing (from about 17-18C when it started, to I think around 8C), as well as a picking up of the wind with the air pressure differences cause by that local temperature shift. It was pretty wild, all told.

[pokepoke]

So I live in the path of totality of this year, me and my little cousin went down to the park by my house (got lost a bit but made it there..), we sat at the park and just drew and sketched while we waited for the eclipse to pass us, it was pretty cool when it did.

It got all dark (a bit less dark than I thought) and stuff, windy and the temperature went down. I heard the crickets too!! There was cheering and stuff and it was really cool to just experience that.

One thing that was kinda funny was as we were walking to the park we kept looking at the eclipse through our glasses, we were kinda “racing” to reach the park on time for totality even though it wouldn’t happen for awhile.

[pharag]

We are all the same type of person here. Inquisitive and thoughtful.

[muninsnow]

I got so emotional. I bought a pair of glasses and got to see a partial eclipse with my mom and my brothers, we shared the pair of glasses and I was just so glad i bought them.